The play Translations by Brian Friel Essay Example For Students

The play Translations by Brian Friel Essay The play Translations was written by Brian Friel an Irish playwright and a founder of the Field Day Theatre Company who, for their first production, presented Translations in 1980. The popularity of the play was so that productions were the staged regularly within England and Ireland through out the 1980s but what was it that made the play so popular.  Within the 1980s troubles had sparked within Northern Ireland, the horrific Bloody Sunday, civil rights marches and the formation of the terrorist group calling themselves The Provisional IRA created a deeply divided nation. These political troubles echoed those of Irelands past when the divide between the protestant landlords and the Catholics who worked the land and were heavily taxed, like the occupants of Baile Beag in 1833, for this reason the play would have been of interest to audiences in the 1980s as a historic background to the current events. But the play was not historically correct although it was based loosely around historic fact there were major deviances for which the play was criticised. For instance the Sappers Yolland and Lancey who are mapping Ireland using English place names, although they may have been employed by the army to map the landscape they were not soldiers and would never have had the man power to destroy the village as Yolland threatened. We will write a custom essay on The play Translations by Brian Friel specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The plays content is diverse attracting various audiences but the key for it success is the inclusion of the factors which engage the audience, Conflict, Anticipation, Suspense, pace and contrast. Confliction between Maire and Manus, anticipation about Maire and Lanceys relationship, suspense when Lancey dies, pace when Owen arrives and contrast between Doalty and Jimmy Jack all examples of each of the techniques. The humour present in the play is also an attractive feature for an audience, for instance the character Jimmy Jacks infatuation with the ancient Greek and Latin texts leading him to believe they are true and that he is to be married to the goddess Athene. Other humour is also present in the structure of the play. The comic irony that although the characters on stage are reciting the play in English they are actually speaking Gaelic. To the upper class the theatre was considered an intelligible place to go. The translations play was not only philosophical but political and didactical so a upper class audience would have found it fitting as well as entertaining for its humorous and human interests, such as relationships, within the script.  As well as the English and Irish audiences other audiences were also present in America as well this is down to the fact that there are areas of Irish communities due to emigration. This audience would be interested as the play takes place a little before the potato famine, which caused the mass emigration to America.  Overall the play had great popularity due to the vast content Willy Russell had incorporated within the story giving a factor to attract each audience type.

Is Britain a Meritocratic Society

Is Britain a Meritocratic Society It was determined by history that people need a belief based upon which they would build their present and future. Here is where the need for formulating various concepts of society derives from. One of the popular approaches to defining society is that of the meritocratic society.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is Britain a Meritocratic Society? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More First coined by Michael Young in his 1958 book named The Rise of Meritocracy, this conception is a combination of merit and aristocracy. Merit, broadly speaking, is a prominent value distinguishing one between the others and a will and hard work to use them as a tool for achieving success in life, and aristocracy is the upper class of the society who are the most privileged. In general, meritocracy is an aristocracy based on merit and ignoring kinship1. That said, meritocracy or a meritocratic society is a type of society in which those who have talents and extraordinary intellectual abilities and skills will achieve success in life and, what is more, reach the leading and ruling positions in their community regardless of their family ties and background2. According to the postulates of this approach to defining society, those who are the brightest and the most hard-working and persistent will occupy the highest positions in the society whether it be ruling a little group of people, an organization or a whole country. Generally speaking, meritocracy is: A principle of allocation of people to positions in the socio-economic hierarchy, typically jobs. †¦ The theory is that meritocracy offers a ‘ladder of opportunity’, on which everyone has an equal chance to climb as far as their ‘merit’ permits.3 Meritocratic society operates based on several principles, as initially defined by Michael Young in his book. First of all, meritocracy requires administrative tool controlling the redistribution of human talent. That means that there should be specially authorised organization testing people’s unique abilities and skills before they occupy their positions in the society. Generally speaking, it means that there should be a special network of examinations and that certain position requires a certain set of skills, so prior to entering it, the potential occupant should be tested for having such skills. Second, the skills mentioned above should be fixed and unchangeable.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It does not mean that they remain the same over centuries; instead, they change once in a while so that they correspond to the needs of certain historical epoch but what remains unchangeable is the high level of knowledge and talent required for taking up higher appointments. Third, there is no place for competition in a perfect meritocracy. This principle ma y sound a little weird if thinking about the very essence of the meritocratic approach but it is believed that administrative procedures have no defects thus eradicating competition as such. It may be explained by the fact that people are redistributed according to their abilities and talents so that they believe that they are exactly where they deserve to be thus there is no need to compete with others and prove that they are better than others4. Such a conception of society is a source of particular problems. First and foremost, meritocracy as such leads to socio-economic inequality in the society. From the theoretical perspective, it is viewed as the path towards equal opportunities but the practice has proven that society cannot operate when based on merit. Instead, family ties and the background, not intellectual abilities or unique skills, are the criteria for determining chances for success. It may be easily explained by one simple fact – those who have already occupie d high positions in the society do not want their children to hold lower ones thus blocking access to the talented people without the similar background5. The second challenge is the problem of defining the merit as such. As the times have changed, one new element was added to the concept of merit. It is that of kinship as it was already mentioned above. That said, as long as society values prestige and family ties instead of creative and intellectual potential, it cannot function and develop as a meritocracy in its traditional sense. The third problem of such a conception of the society is that living in the meritocratic conditions people are taught that inequality is justifiable. The reason for this belief lies in the definition of merit as such6. As long as people believe that they do not have the opportunity to obtain certain positions without certain skills or talents and that they deserve to be exactly where they are, they do not have the desire to change this reality, self-ev olve, and reach new horizons. Many may believe that meritocracies are as dead as Julius Caesar but, in fact, they are not the tales of the past. Nowadays most developed societies consider themselves to be meritocratic, as they believe that there are equal opportunities to succeed in life for everyone who has talent and works hard.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is Britain a Meritocratic Society? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, they claim that the harder you work, the higher you get, and, of course, your talent and intellectual and creative potential are the only things that limit you in climbing the ladder. Together with that, people in the developed societies stress that they totally ignore the person’s background and family ties if he or she demonstrates yearning to succeed in life and has unique skills. Britain in this sense is not an exception, and it is a meritocratic society. In general, mos t people stick to a concept of merit. What is more, today, it almost does not matter what class you come from or what your ethnic background is because if you are talented and persistent, the possibility of achieving success is high. More than that, you are most likely to achieve the position your skills allow you to, so everyone in the society occupies exactly the right place. What is more prominent is that there have been many positive shifts in the movement towards perfect meritocratic society such as elevating a barrier of class. That means that birth in a working-class family, for example, does not preclude a talented person from gaining higher education and becoming a citizen of high-status. Regardless of the positive developments mentioned above class still matters in the overall setting of one’s life. It originates from the parents’ love and their desire to help their children find the best possible place in life not from stressing that class is a barrier to in tellectual and creative development. That said, parents might want to let their kids attend the most prestigious schools they can afford thus granting them certain merits in life7 as education has become one of them. What is more, they may help their children occupy particular positions thus inverting the natural course of meritocracy. Parents’ interference with their children’s lives is what is one of the main preclusions to perfect meritocracy. It should be said, however, that this statement is only fair in the case of high-status families, especially those occupying the highest ruling positions in the society. In most cases today, those who hold them cannot make a boast of their social status as they have it due to their background. It does not mean that they do not have any merits at all; it only means that, in the case they had not had the status of their family, they would not have been where they currently are since their skills and talents do not correspond to it. That said, the desire of the parents especially those who are involved in politics and ruling the country to prevent their children from falling is what keeps British society from achieving a state of perfect meritocracy.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Together with that, universal access to education including school and higher education is what is often viewed as a preclusion to build a perfect meritocratic society in its traditional sense. There is a point of view that the ability to obtain education should not be universal, as it inverts the natural course of the development of meritocracy because it is a primary source of inequality in the society8. The main argument in favour of this statement is that there is inequality in the ability of families to help their children with gaining the education and that the one with more prestigious education occupies better positions of higher status regardless of the level of knowledge, skills, and talent. I am strongly inclined to believe that even though there are many problems deriving from the meritocratic concept of society, there is one promising opportunity of the present times that can help return to the meritocratic society in its traditional sense. With the outburst of informat ion and communication technologies and the overall shift to the knowledge-driven world, those without family ties with the highest circles of the community have gotten their chance to succeed in life with the help of their skills and talents. Since higher education has become available to nearly anyone and is no longer a prerogative of the privileged ones, the educational system has become that administratively authorised unit that can control the redistribution of talent. I do believe in it because education leads to inequality in society not in the case of different level of the college prestige but in the case if some people had the opportunity to obtain the higher education because of their family’s status in the society, and others had not. When everyone is equal in access to education, even though the level of prestige differs, there emerges the possibility of equality because all that as the end results matters is not the name of the college indicated on the diploma bu t the level of knowledge and whether a person has skills needed for feeling the position. That said, the level of education has become one more merit. Of course, those enjoying the advantage of kinship will occupy most ruling positions but people with high intellectual abilities and robust creative potential will find their way to attaining a high place. One more argument in favour of the meritocracy of British society is the Queen’s Honour system9. It may be considered to be out in the left field but, in fact, meritocracy is about being rewarded for unique skills and persistent work. With this in mind, Queen’s system of Honours proves that there is some other way to reward people rather than the career, power, and money and that those who work for the good of their country should be titled and remembered. Together with the system of rewards, it also demonstrates the hierarchy in the society with being knighted as a symbol of reaching the highest ladder of it or the hi ghest rank possible. So, British society is just one little step away from becoming a perfect meritocracy. Since the end of World War II, there have been many positive shifts in achieving social justice and equality such as carrying out various reforms aimed at eradicating barriers keeping talented and skilled people away from becoming successful and obtaining high status in society. It should be said that taking one last step towards transforming in a perfectly meritocratic society may be even harder than all those previous ones that have already been taken, as it would mean that those occupying the highest ruling positions would let their children live their lives by means of their own unique character traits, knowledge, and persistence, i.e. their merits. Bearing in mind everything that was mentioned above building a society based on meritocratic approach is only possible in the case if every next generation forgets about the success and status of the current generation and start s its way from the very beginning with their intellectual and creative potential as the only criteria for achieving set objectives. It, to my mind, is impossible due to the human’s nature, as the parents always want their children to have the best conditions for living their lives. The only option that might be possible in such case is creating conditions for fair competition in the society even though it is contrary to the postulates of the meritocratic society. I can explain it by providing the statement that without the competition there is no opportunity for achieving equality, as there are people who might have similar skills and talents so there should be a way of choosing it. So, developing competitive atmosphere together with education may become that administrative tool for redistributing human talent that is necessary for meritocratic society in it traditional sense. Reference List Allen, Ansgar, ‘Michael Young’s The Rise of the Meritocracy: A Philosoph ical Critique, British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 367-382. Bloodworth, James, Meritocracy is a Myth, Independent (2014). Web. Duru-Bellat, Marie., Tenret, Elise., Whos for Meritocracy? Individual and Contextual Variations in the Faith’, Comparative Education Review, vol. 56, no. 2, p. 223-247. Gelman, Andrew, â€Å"Meritocracy Won’t Happen: The Problem with the Ocracy†, Washington Post (2014). Web. Lister, Ruth, ‘Ladder of Opportunity of Engine of Inequality?’, The Political Quarterly, vol. 77, no. 1, 2006, pp. 232-234. Saunders, Peter, Meritocracy and Popular Legitimacy, The Political Quarterly, vol. 77, no. 1, 2006, pp. 183-194. Strong, Roy, Englands Class System is a Meritocracy, The Telegraph (2014). Web. Wooldridge, Adrian, Measuring the Mind: Education and Psychology in England C. 1860-c.1990 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008). Footnotes 1 Adrian Wooldridge, Measuring the Mind: Education and Psychology in En gland C.1860-c.1990, p. 166. 2 Peter Saunders, Meritocracy and Popular Legitimacy, The Political Quarterly, vol. 77, no. 1, 2006, p. 183. 3 Ruth Lister, ‘Ladder of Opportunity of Engine of Inequality?’ The Political Quarterly, vol. 77, no. 1, 2006, p. 232. 4 Ansgar Allen, ‘Michael Young’s The Rise of the Meritocracy: A Philosophical Critique, British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 370-374. 5 Andrew Gelman, †Meritocracy Won’t Happen: The Problem with the Ocracy†, Washington Post. 6 Marie Duru-Bellat Elise Tenret, Whos for Meritocracy? Individual and Contextual Variations in the Faith’, Comparative Education Review, vol. 56, no. 2, p. 223. 7 Peter Saunders, Meritocracy and Popular Legitimacy, p. 183. 8 James Bloodworth, Meritocracy is a Myth, Independent. 9 Roy Strong, Englands Class System is a Meritocracy, The Telegraph.

Fairtax (fairtax.org) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Fairtax (fairtax.org) - Research Paper Example gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes with a federal retail sales tax to be levied once at the point of purchase on all new goods and services. According to proposed policy, every household of the United States is also eligible to receive a sales tax rebate each month. This rebate is equal to the product of (1) the sales tax rate of 23% and (2) the family consumption allowance divided by twelve. One of controversial aspects of the FairTax reform is the ability to be revenue-neutral, which means whether it would generate the same amount of overall federal tax revenues. Supporters of the FairTax claim the 23% rate is revenue-neutral while opponents disagree. Another common criticism of the FairTax is that it is regressive. That is, lower level income households bear a larger than equitable portion of the tax burden because most of their income is spent on essential daily need consumption items. Simultaneously, the proponents of the reform argu e that the FairTax can be progressive due to exemptions or rebates. This particular paper aims to analyze both sides of the debate and provide necessary empirical evidence based on the previous literature research regarding the controversial nature of the FairTax. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, laid out certain criteria forejudging tax structures and tax policies. Specifically, he felt that equity, explicitness, simplicity of compliance, and economy of administration should be the cornerstones of any tax system. The current federal tax system is criticized as being too complicated and unfair (Slemrod, 58). Efforts to simplify the current tax system, e.g., Tax Reform Act of 1986, are often viewed as ineffectual in creating a fairer or simpler system (Hite and Roberts, 121). For example, the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform (2005) points out that â€Å"our current tax code is a complicated mess. Instead of clarity, we have

What constitutes a quality research proposal Essay

What constitutes a quality research proposal - Essay Example Proficiency in research proposal writing cannot counteract an unsound project, yet it can offer the supplementary gauge of quality that discerns a premium research proposal with its competition (Levinson 2000). Basically a research proposal is the demonstration of a plan that an individual aims to pursue. A quality research proposal supposes that the researcher have already deliberated about his/her project and have allocated substantial time and effort in collecting relevant information, analysing and then structuring his/her ideas. A good research proposal is not a hastened task (Saunders 2006). Therefore, one could think that the research proposal is a subsequent step, after the topic selection. The actual research proposal will specify the analytical question a researcher aims to investigate. The groundwork of a quality research proposal is a viable research problem. Moreover, a quality research proposal has nine components, and each part is essential in a successful presentation. The particular outline and content of the components could differ (Marcoulides 1998). In order to demonstrate what constitutes a quality research proposal it is important to discuss the research components. Above all, the statement of the problem should incorporate a definite and short statement of the objective or purpose of the plan. In a business research proposal, this section is made up of the particular question/s to be studied, a succinct description of the significance of the study, and an account of how the findings will contribute to the present literature (Marcoulides 1998). Second, a good research proposal should indicate the researcher’s analyses of relevant literatures and where particularly his/her investigation stands in that framework. This section has not to be long, though it should be wide-ranging. It should outline the fundamental issues in the literature, emphasise key areas of conflict, and demonstrate a critical

The use of the Historical Cost convention and the accrual concept for Essay

The use of the Historical Cost convention and the accrual concept for stewardship and for decision making - Essay Example It is this purchase price which is referred to as the "historical" cost. An extension of this discussion will lead to interesting questions. The asset must be shown in the books at the purchase price. It is not to be shown at the market value. This is done to ensure a "true and fair" picture of the financial position of the firm. It is commonly noted that the asset which is purchased by the company will increase/decrease in value over time, because of market forces. In such a case, the correct representation of the asset will lie only in showing them at their original, historical cost. Showing the asset at its market value will portray the asset at a value which may be inflated or deflated, as the market forces may be. This will defeat the purpose of financial accounting, which involves giving a "true and fair" view of accounts. In such a case, as per the historical cost principle, the value of this land will be $50,000 in the books. Showing it at the inflated price of $80,000 will be against the accounting principle of prudence2, and it will inflate the profits of the firm, which may influence prospective outsiders. We know that Assets less Liabilities equals equity. So, greater the assets, greater the equity. However, since investors, creditors and other outsiders need to know the accurate information, which can be provided only with an accurate stewardship, there has to be a method that makes the selection of asset-value uniform. And that method is the historical cost principle. Not only does the historical cost convention make the value of assets uniform and unambiguous - as the cost of acquisition is shown as the asset value - it makes the whole process of number crunching an easier one. Evaluating the assets at their market value allows a lot of ambiguity to creep in. Since market value is always subject to volatility, the value of assets would always be subjective. The historical cost principle, in such a situation, evaluates the assets at the cost of their acquisition, making the value objective and uniform3. In such a case, the historical cost convention is particularly useful for stewardship. As discussed earlier, the historical cost convention requires the asset to be valued at its acquisition cost only. This means that only the money which we have actually spent is to be shown in the books. An inflated value of the assets goes against the principle of prudence. Stewardship, which plays the important role of communication of information to outsiders, involves presenting the financial position of the firm as accurately as possible, and of course, keeping in mind all norms. The historical cost convention enables this function to be done with vital ease. Upon employing the historical cost principle, the books of accounts present an impartial view of the financial position of the business concern. This naturally, helps prospective outsiders make a fully informed decision,

The advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing

The advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing Nowadays most companies tend to let third party companies to handle the operation of their services. This initiative is considered to be a risky action, because it is primary made for deducting the costs as well as the particularization these companies has to offer. Besides of the advantages that many companies have faced during outsourcing there are some disadvantages also. Below I will describe further advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing in organizations such as Tesco. Advantages of outsourcing Reducing Costs As I mentioned before reducing the costs is the main aspect that companies choose to use outsourcing. These costs are usually referring to employee fees, office space expenses as well as some other costs such as outsourced workforce as it is proved to be way cheaper than workforce coming from developed countries. Time Utilization A widely known benefit that outsourcing has to offer, is the high speeding time that outsourced work is done. A great example of time utilization in a company would be the employee hiring procedure for the creation of a new team. Using outsourcing this time can be reduced to a maximal level. Skills Acquisition Another capability that outsourcing has to offer in a company is the adeptness that employees does not have. A characteristic example in a company such as Tesco is when the personnel needs have to deal with a new technology in order to perform best in their divisions. This way type of outsourcing helps the company to accomplish the pre mentioned benefits which are reducing both time and cost. Operational Efficiency Due to the fact that workforce is handled by outsourcing, individuals inside a company can have the opportunity concentrate more on their initial charges and perform better in their departments. This is an important reason for a company to use outsourcing as it allows the employees to emphasize on their proficiency but mostly on core business. Customers Satisfaction It has significant use when a company has a contract with a seller and so it is bound to offer a high service level as well as quality. That is why, when a company has an outsourced IT function and one of the employees calls in sick, they are obligated to find a surrogate that can accomplish the job and satisfy the customer. Disadvantages of outsourcing Quality Risk Using outsourcing has drawbacks sometimes which can compromise the name and the reputation of a company. For example if a customer has a purchase and later on discovers that part of the product he paid for is damaged, then the company has the obligation to substitute that part by contacting their outsource supplier but the company will always carry the burden of a damaged product. Constant Management It is widely known that most companies nowadays, fail to outsource their projects due to the fact that they dont have a proper management system. To elaborate, every company needs to possess a high intelligence manager, which will exclusively deal with the management of the outsourced projects. In such a big company as Tesco is, this person should fully qualified to determine the outsourced workforce demands, and ensure that all the providers are constantly updated to meet these demands. Frustrating Conditions These conditions are usually referring to employees knowledge. When we are dealing with big companies such as Tesco sometimes problems like language barriers occur. For example when a customer call center is outsourced to a different language company, there may be some annoyed customers that will deal with unhandy communication condition. Another strong frustration is the lack of organization knowledge, where outsourced employees are not surrounded by the same passion or obligation for an organization, making them usually look fool and unknowledgeable in the eyes of a customer. On the other hand, there are some frustrations detected from the companys own personnel to the outsourced providers. This happens when the knowledge of the personnel is not in high levels, leading them to accuse for the bad service the outsourced supplier. Security It important for a customer to know that is respected and those they can trust the company by giving them personal information. That is why the management of the customers confidential information should be always processed by companys employees and not the outsourced one. Layoffs Fears Outsourcing often fears the employees because their job may be in risk due other outsourced employees. This condition reflects negatively on the employees psychology, as well as their own job. To avoid this uncomfortable situation companies such as Tesco must protect their personnel from losing their temper by informing every single employee that they shouldnt or in some cases should worry about losing their job. Question 2 Hyperlinks http://www.outsourcing.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/Outsourcing-Help:-Pros-and-Cons-of-Outsourcing/ http://thethrivingsmallbusiness.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-outsourcing/

Policing Worldwide Essay -- Law Enforcement Police

Policing Worldwide The world of policing is one of constant change. As far back as the early days of Peelian police philosophy the missions and goals of police departments have constantly been altered. In our diverse communities and cites worldwide we see police departments engaged in very different forms of policing. Even across the many jurisdictions that operate within our nation we see departments that run at the very opposite ends of the policing spectrum, with some acing in extreme public service roles and others involved in aggressive crime fighting ideologies. These different approaches are all based of what the police identifies as the needs of the community. As constant research is conducted in the field of policing, departments adopt new policies and programs. As new technologies arise they too are incorporated into law enforcement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The New York City Police Department like any other department in the world is constantly changing and adapting its policies to conform to that of new technologies and trends in law enforcement. One of these policies that has been put into use in recent years has been that of a community policing initiative. Finding its roots in police-community relations policies of the 50’s and 60’s, community policing is a philosophy that seeks to form a partnership between the police and the community. Through this bond the community can fully identify its needs and work together with the police to battle crime as well as many other services that do not fall within the traditional roles of policing. All of this is aimed at taking a proactive approach to crime. Its basis is simply trying to work with the community to identify its problems and fixing them before they escalate or lead to crime. Community policing is far different than any other philosophy seen in pol icing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although throughout history, â€Å"there have been sporadic variations in the underpinnings of American law enforcement, its substantively has remained a legal-bureaucratic organization focusing on professional law enforcement (Gaines and Kappeler, 2003 p. 476)†. This legal-bureaucratic set up of the American police department has it as an agency concerned with statistic and numbers. The outputs of policing that include number of arrests, volume of recovered property, number of citations issued, response times and the other stats of policing play a more i... ...mmander is then praised for his success in lower crime. However, I feel that this alienates the police from a community. If the police implement aggressive tactic in an area, the public often perceives this in almost a military sweep. The cops are seen as the bad guys that only come in to arrest the criminals and then go on their way to other high crime areas. If CompStat identified the high crime areas and then used community policing tactics to permanently rid the underlying problems of crime in that  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However the hierarchy of the New York City Police Department chooses to deal with these two new tactics in policing will change the course of our city. I feel that while both valuable tactics, the NYPD should stress its role in community policing. If the police continue to adopt aggressive styles of policing and continue to alienate themselves from the community, they might find themselves being hated by the city they protect. I think that CompStat has been a val uable tool for New York to lower its crime rate, however I think it fosters reactive and aggressive tactics. Unless it is changed or abandoned, the police will continue to widen the gap between themselves and the public.

City of God vs. The Protestant Reformations Essay

Introduction: The belief that God is present to the human mind and soul, and can be found is part of the Christian tradition. Many Christian philosophers seem to regard this as the concern only of specially devout persons and of no interest for philosophical purposes. The evidence for it, they think, it too slender to be taken seriously by academic philosophers without particular interest in religion, who tend to regard anything in the nature of religious experience as suspect. So, philosophical discussions about religion are usually concerned with rational arguments for and against theism, usually of a technical kind. In this article, I want to discuss the Augustine world with the reformist will as proposed by Martin Luther. One of the great cornerstones in the history of Christian thought, The City of God is vital to an understanding of modern Western society and how it came into being. Begun in A.D. 413 by Saint Augustine, the great theologian who was bishop of Hippo, the book’s initial purpose was to refute the charge that Christianity was to blame for the fall of Rome (which had occurred just three years earlier). Augustine’s City of God, a monumental work of religious lore, philosophy, and history, was written as a kind of literary tombstone for Roman culture. After the downfall of Rome, Augustine wrote this book to portray the corruption of Romans’ pursuit of earthly pleasures: â€Å"grasping for praise, open-handed with their money; honest in the pursuit of wealth, they wanted to hoard glory.† Augustine contrasts his condemnation of Rome with an exaltation of Christian culture. The glory that Rome failed to attain will only be realized by citizens of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem foreseen in Revelation. On the other hand Hans J. Hillerbrand in his book â€Å"The Protestant Reformation† says â€Å"When the reformers who had first ventured a new interpretation of the gospel had passed from the scene, the question which had haunted the Reformation from its very inception–where is truth?–was still contested by the proponents of the old and the new faith. But one fact was beyond dispute: Western Christendom was tragically divided†¦into no less than five religious factions†¦.Though these divisions were the result of intense religious conviction, they could not help but lessen the intensity of religious belief in Europe. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was the last period in the history of Western civilization when men were preoccupied with religion, argued it, fought and even died for it. Its consequences are still with us†. Argument: The two cities in city of God and the two wills in Lutheranism No book except the Bible itself had a greater influence on the Middle Ages than the â€Å"City of God†. Since medieval Europe has been the cradle of today’s Western civilization, this work by consequence is vital for an understanding of our world and how it came into being. St. Augustine is often regarded as the most influential Christian thinker after St. Paul, and this book highlights upon a vast synthesis of religious and secular knowledge. It began as a reply to the charge that Christian otherworldliness was causing the decline of the Roman Empire. Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Then he proceeded to his larger theme, a cosmic interpretation of history in terms of the struggle between good and evil: the City of God in conflict with the Earthly City or the City of the Devil. This, the first serious attempt at a philosophy of history, was to have incalculable influence in forming the Western mind on the relations of church and state, and on the Christian’s place in the temporal order. It is more than a question of setting down on paper a series of abstract principles and then applying them in practice. Christianity is more than a moral code, more than a philosophy, more than a system of rites. Although it is sufficient, in the abstract, to divide the Catholic religion into three aspects and call them creed, code and cult, yet in practice, the integral Christian life is something far more than all this. It is more than a belief; it is a life. That is to say, it is a belief that is lived and experienced and expressed in action. The action in which it is expressed, experienced and lived is called a mystery. This mystery is the sacred drama which keeps ever present in history the Sacrifice that was once consummated by Christ on Calvary. In plain words–if you can accept them as plain–Christianity is the life and death and resurrection of Christ going on day after day in the souls of individual men and in the heart of society. It is this Christ-life, this incorporation into the Body of Christ, this union with His death and resurrection as a matter of conscious experience, that St. Augustine wrote of in his Confessions. But Augustine not only experienced the reality of Christ living in his own soul. He was just as keenly aware of the presence and action, the Birth, Sacrifice, Death and Resurrection of the Mystical Christ in the midst of human society. And this experience, this vision, if you would call it that, qualified him to write a book that was to be, in fact, the autobiography of the Catholic Church. That is what The City of God is. Just as truly as the Confessions are the autobiography of St. Augustine, The City of God is the autobiography of the Church written by the most Catholic of her great saints. Evidently, the treatment of the theme is so leisurely and so meandering and so diffuse that The City of God, more than any other book, requires an introduction. The best we can do here is to offer a few practical suggestions as to how to tackle it. The first of these suggestions is this: since, after all, The City of God reflects much of St. Augustine’s own personality and is colored by it, the reader who has never met Augustine before ought to go first of all to the Confessions. Once he gets to know the saint, he will be better able to understand Augustine’s view of society. Then, no one who is not a specialist, with a good background of history or of theology or of philosophy, ought not to attempt to read the City, for the first time, beginning at page one. The living heart of the City is found in Book Nineteen, and this is the section that will make the most immediate appeal to us today because it is concerned with the theology of peace. However, Book Nineteen cannot be understood all by itself. The best source for solutions to the most pressing problems it will raise is Book Fourteen, where the origin of the two Cities is sketched, in an essay on original sin. On the other hand the protestant reformation deals with the religious movement which made its appearance in western Europe in the sixteenth century, and which, while ostensibly aiming at an internal renewal of the church, really led to a great revolt against it, and an abandonment of the principal Christian beliefs. The causes of the great religious revolt of the sixteenth century must be sought as far back as the fourteenth. The doctrine of the church, it is true, had remained pure; saintly lives were yet frequent in all parts of Europe, and the numerous beneficent medieval institutions of the church continued their course uninterruptedly. Whatever unhappy conditions existed were largely due to civil and profane influences or to the exercise of authority by ecclesiastics in civil spheres; they did not obtain everywhere with equal intensity, nor did they always occur simultaneous in the same country. Ecclesiastical and religious life exhibited in many places vigor and variety; works of education and charity abounded; religious art in all its forms had a living force; domestic missionaries were many and influential; pious and edifying literature was common and appreciated. Gradually, however, and largely owing to the variously hostile spirit of the civil powers, fostered and heightened by several elements of the new order, there grew up in many parts of Europe political and social conditions which hampered the free reformatory activities of the church, and favored the bold and unscrupulous, who seized a unique opportunity to let loose all the forces of heresy and schism so long held in check by the harmonious action of the ecclesiastical and civil authorities. Luther’s theology is his understanding of God that can be summarized as Gottes Gottheit, which means â€Å"God is God.† In the deepest sense, Luther believes that God is above all and in all. God, through his creative power, reveals that he is free and immutable. He alone can bring life into existence. He alone sustains life. He alone freely wills. Moreover, what God wills can not be impeded or resisted by a mere creature. God is all-powerful and therefore, God’s will is alone immutable. Any person, therefore, that appeals to the freedom of human will attempts to usurp for themselves an attribute that belongs only to God. The free and immutable will of God is, in Luther’s writings, fundamental to a right and proper faith. Without it, God is not God and Scripture would, therefore, have to be annulled. In BOW, Luther constantly emphasizes these two characteristics of the will of God and points out their significance for the Faith. In addition, Luther argues that God has two wills as pertains His nature: (1) the revealed will of His word and, (2) the hidden or inscrutable will. These characteristics of God’s will provide the basis for understanding and interpreting Luther’s conviction that the human will is enslaved. For Luther, the free will of God is not simply God’s limitless and unobstructed ability to choose between any set of variables in any set of circumstances. Rather, it is God’s unique ability to transcend all these variables and circumstances to perform, or not perform, any action that He desires. God’s will is not contingent upon the will of any other being. In ceaseless activity, God creates the possibilities. As such, the free will of God is most plainly revealed to humanity through His creative acts. God freely chooses to create our present reality and likewise, He freely sustains this reality. In fact, reality does not exist except by the will of God. To this all-encompassing extent then, Luther asserts that God is all in all. Nothing is that God does not declare to be. And, it is this creative power that manifests God’s freedom, His free will. In recognizing Luther’s pronounced emphasis on God’s sovereignty, Paul Althaus declares: â€Å"God is the first or principal cause, all others are only secondary or instrumental causes. They are only the tools which he uses in the service of his own autonomous, free, and exclusive working; they are only the masks under which he hides his activity†. The second characteristic of God’s   will that is crucial to Luther’s understanding of the bondage of the human will, is its immutability. That is, God’s will can not be changed, altered or impeded. The immutability of God’s will is the logical conclusion to the freedom of God’s will. God’s sovereignty and almighty power demands that whatever God wills happens by necessity. Nothing occurs contingently. God’s will does not act independently of reality, as the human will does, but rather, God’s will creates reality. In Luther’s theology, the will of God is not contingent and so likewise, the foreknowledge of God is also not contingent. For whatever God wills, he foreknows and so, whatever He foreknows must, by necessity, happen. For if it did not happen, then God would be fallible and His will contingent which Luther declares â€Å"is not to be found in God!†   It is the immutable will of God, acting freely, that provides the Christian with â€Å"the assurance of things hoped for† (Heb 11:1), namely that the promises of God will be fulfilled. As Luther suggests, â€Å"the Christian’s chief and only comfort in every adversity lies in knowing that God does not lie, but brings all things to pass immutably, and that His will cannot be resisted, altered or impeded. â€Å"Indeed, for Luther, the conviction that God’s will is free and immutable must be central to the Faith. Yet, Luther’s theology presents a problem: if God wills everything and everything He wills comes to pass then one must conclude that God wills the salvation of few and the damnation of many (cf. Mt 22:14). Luther answered this dilemma by teaching that God has two wills, the revealed and the hidden. As Luther declares in BOW, God’s decree to damn â€Å"the undeserving . . . [who are] compelled by natural necessity to sin and perish† does indeed seem horrible. Moreover, all rational and philosophical knowledge of God can not avoid the terrible reality of this conclusion, for as Luther concedes, the â€Å"injustice of God . . . is traduced as such by arguments which no reason or light of nature can resist†. Luther understands this horrible decree in light of God’s justice in two ways. For Luther, the answer to these questions is twofold: (1) we must simply believe that God’s justice is righteous because in Christ God has proven His love and compassion and, (2) we should not probe into the hidden or inscrutable will of God wherein God operates paradoxically, i.e. righteousness made evident through unrighteousness. Luther’s twofold answer to the questions of damnation reveals a high view of God’s sovereignty and majesty. Moreover, the answer is in accordance with Luther’s view that God’s will is uniquely free and immutable. The answer also demands that the Christian simply trust in God. The Christian must believe all that is revealed in Scripture, not merely those things that are pleasant to the senses, and as such, we are compelled to accept the fact that God actively chooses to reject certain people. Nevertheless, if God has said in His Word that He is loving and gracious, and He has revealed himself to be such through His forbearance with the Israelites and the glorious plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, but what right can we judge the manner in which God oversees and sustains the world? For Luther, this is precisely the point at which the Christian must heed the words of God, spoken through the prophet Isaiah: â€Å"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts† (Isa 55:8-9). Luther would likewise appeal to God’s answer to Job in Job 38-41 and the words of Paul in Romans 9:20 as yet other examples of the futility of comprehending the incomprehensible and inscrutable will of God. Luther, therefore, answers the critics of predestination and defends God’s decree to affect unbelief in people by appealing to this inscrutable wisdom and will of God, a will that cannot be understood by any attempt of human reason. Because God is God, He has the right to condemn man for sins that God works in Him.10 And so, it is by faith that the Christian simply trusts that God is righteous, loving and gracious in so working. Luther consoles the Christian by exhorting them to look only to the revealed will of God that promises salvation to all who receive Christ. Thus, He does not will the death of a sinner-that is, in His Word; but He wills it by His inscrutable will. At present, however, we must keep in view His Word and leave alone His inscrutable will; for it is by His Word, and not by His inscrutable will, that we must be guided. Yet, for Luther, knowing that God does possess a hidden and inscrutable will of God provides valuable insights for the Christian. The inscrutable will of God tempers the revealed will of God. The doctrine of the free, immutable and inscrutable will of God, therefore, contributes three important foundations to the Christian Faith: (1) God is sovereign, all-powerful and therefore, even evil is under the sway of His goodness and as such, the Christian can be certain that the promises of God will be realized, (2) humanity is not free to earn or demand anything of God and so, God’s gift of salvation can truly be called free and gracious and, (3) the Christian, in response to these truths, is properly humbled and learns, in reverent adoration, to fear God, who acts freely and immutability for His glory. In consequence of his view of God’s will, Luther’s view of the human will is necessarily placed in total subjection to the Divine. It is in this respect that Luther stands in contrast to Erasmus. Luther’s discussion of this topic is theocentric, beginning with a discussion of God and His attributes whereas Erasmus belies an anthropocentric view, beginning with human experience. For Luther, that God’s will is immutable logically demands that man’s will is mutable. For if God’s will is not contingent but immutable and free, no other will can be also be immutable and free otherwise these wills could impede one another and consequently, these wills would no longer be immutable and free but rather, they would be subject to one another. As such, Luther rightly proclaims the inconsistency of the term free will. In Luther’s writings, there are three primary considerations to consider in evaluating the characteristics of the human will: (1) the human will is mutable, (2) as a consequence of the Fall, the human will is enslaved to sin and, (3) the human will requires the grace of God, offered through the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ Jesus, to affect any positive change in a person’s life. Luther’s position on the Divine and human wills was not a small matter to him. In Table-Talk, Luther once stated in regards to his position that â€Å"I know it to be the truth, though all the world should be against it; yea, the decree of Divine Majesty must stand fast against the gates of hell.† The belief that humanity is enslaved to sin and that it is only by sovereign election that God saves a person formed the basis for Luther’s conviction of justification by grace through faith. Grace is one the most important principles of biblical interpretation to Luther and no where is divine grace more evident than in the doctrine of election. And, it is this sola gratia principle of Luther’s faith that preserves the eternal significance of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is by his sacrifice, not by our own works, that God graciously extends salvation to the elect. As Luther often remarked, to assert the freedom of the will is to deny the necessity of Christ’s atoning work. Conclusion Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. By means of his contrast of the earthly and heavenly cities–the one pagan, self-centered, and contemptuous of God and the other devout, God-centered, and in search of grace–Augustine explored and interpreted human history in relation to eternity. Saint Augustine examines the failure of Roman religion and the flaws in human civilization, thus creating the first Christian philosophy of history. Against the ‘city’, i.e., society, of many gods, there is but one alternate society, this Augustine calls The City of God, adopting the expression found in several of King David’s psalms. Not only is the society of many gods the society of polytheists, it is also the â€Å"city† of pantheists, atheistic materialists and philosophical Cynics. In the case of the Cynics and atheists, these false gods are the myriad gods of self, indeed, at least as many gods (selves) as there are believers in them. Thus there are two â€Å"cities†, two loves, two ways to understand the big questions of existence, two destinations. Says Augustine:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The one City began with the love of God; the other had its beginnings in the love of self.† XIV:13. â€Å"The city of man seeks the praise of men, whereas the height of glory for the other is to hear God in the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own boasting; the other says to God: ‘Thou art my glory, thou liftest up my head.’ (Psalm 3.4) In the city of the world both the rulers themselves and the people they dominate are dominated by the lust for domination; whereas in the City of God all citizens serve one another in charity. . .† References 1. http://www.newadvent.org The Catholic encyclopedia The Journal Of Religion, J. Jeffery Tyler, volume 85, Part 1(2005), pages 317 – 319 Althaus, Paul. The Theology of Martin Luther. Translation of 2nd edition by Robert C. Schultz. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1966 –. Luther’s Works, Volume 31: Career of the Reformer I. ed. Philip S. Watson. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1957.

Rafael Trujillo Biography

Rafael Trujillo Biography Rafael Leà ³nidas Trujillo Molina (October 24, 1891-May 30, 1961) was a military general who seized power in the Dominican Republic and ruled the island from 1930 to 1961. Known as the Little Caesar of the Caribbean, he is remembered as one of the most brutal dictators in Latin Americas history. Fast Facts: Rafael Trujillo Known For: Dictator of the Dominican RepublicAlso Known As: Rafael Leà ³nidas Trujillo Molina, Nicknames: El Jefe (The Boss), El Chivo (The Goat)Born: October 24, 1891 in San Cristà ³bal, Dominican RepublicDied: May 30, 1961 on a coastal highway between Santo Domingo and Haina in the Dominican RepublicParents: Josà © Trujillo Valdez, Altagracia Julia Molina Chevalier  Key Accomplishments:  While his regime was rife with corruption and self-enrichment, he also undertook the modernization and industrialization of the Dominican RepublicSpouse(s): Aminta Ledesma Lachapelle, Bienvenida Ricardo Martà ­nez, and Marà ­a de los Angeles Martà ­nez AlbaFun  Fact: The merengue song Mataron al Chivo (They Killed the Goat) celebrates the assassination of Trujillo in 1961 Early Life Trujillo was born of mixed-race ancestry to a lower-class family in San Cristà ³bal, a town on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. He began his military career during the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1924) and was trained by U.S. marines in the newly formed Dominican National Guard (eventually renamed the Dominican National Police). Generalissimo Rafael L. Trujillo (left), Commander -in-Chief of the Dominican Republic armed forces, reviews a complement of the US Destroyer Norfolk, during a recent visit of the warship here. The nation declared a special holiday in honor of the visiting personnel, who in turn were invited to inspect the thirty naval vessels of the Dominican navy. Bettmann / Getty Images Rise to Power Trujillo eventually rose to Chief of the Dominican National Police, all the while engaging in shady business deals related to the purchase of military food, clothes and equipment, from which he began to amass wealth. Trujillo demonstrated a ruthless tendency to remove enemies from the army, place allies in key positions, and consolidate power, which is how he became the commander-in-chief of the army by 1927. When President Horacio Vzquez fell ill in 1929, Trujillo and his allies saw an opening to prevent Vice President Alfonseca, who they considered to be an enemy, from assuming the presidency. Trujillo began to work with another politician, Rafael Estrella Ureà ±a, to seize power from Vzquez. On February 23, 1930, Trujillo and Estrella Ureà ±a engineered a coup that eventually resulted in both Vzquez and Alfonseca resigning and ceding power to Estrella Ureà ±a. However, Trujillo had designs on the presidency himself and after months of intimidation and threats of violence toward other political parties, he assumed the presidency with Estrella Ureà ±a as vice president on August 16, 1930. The Trujillo Agenda: Repression, Corruption and Modernization Trujillo proceeded to murder and jail his opponents after the election. He also established a paramilitary force, La 42, designed to persecute his opponents and generally instill fear in the population. He exerted full control over the islands economy, establishing monopolies over salt, meat and rice production. He engaged in blatant corruption and conflicts of interest, forcing Dominicans to buy staple food products distributed by his own companies. By rapidly acquiring wealth, Trujillo was eventually able to push out owners across various sectors, such as insurance and tobacco production, forcing them to sell to him. Vice-President Richard M. Nixon and General Rafael L. Trujillo of the Dominican Republic (right) exchange warm greetings on Nixons arrival in Ciudad Trujillo, March 1st. The visit to the Dominican Republic marked the next-to-last stage of Nixons good Will tour of Latin America. During an official motorcade through the city, Nixon was cheered by some 15,000 schoolchildren. Streets were decked with U.S. and Dominican flags. Bettmann / Getty Images He also issued propaganda proclaiming himself as the savior of a previously backward country. In 1936 he changed the name of Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo (Trujillo City) and began to erect monuments and dedicate street names to himself. Despite the vast corruption of Trujillos dictatorship, his fortunes were closely tied to the Dominican economy, and thus the population benefitted as his government went about modernizing the island and undertaking infrastructure and public works projects, such as improving sanitation and paving roads. He was particularly successful in pushing industrialization, creating industrial plants for the production of shoes, beer, tobacco, alcohol, vegetable oil, and other products. Industries enjoyed special treatment, like protection from labor unrest and foreign competition. Sugar was one of Trujillos largest ventures, particularly in the post-war era. Most of the sugar mills were owned by foreign investors, so he set about buying them up with state and personal funds. He used nationalist rhetoric to back up his agenda of taking over foreign-owned sugar mills. At the end of his reign, Trujillos economic empire was unprecedented: he controlled nearly 80% of the countrys industrial production and his firms employed 45% of the active labor force. With 15% of the labor force employed by the state, this meant that 60% of the population depended on him directly for work. Although Trujillo ceded the presidency to his brother in 1952 and 1957 and installed Joaquà ­n Balaguer in 1960, he maintained de facto control over the island until 1961, using his secret police to infiltrate the population and rout out dissent using intimidation, torture, imprisonment, kidnapping and rape of women, and assassination. The Haitian Question One of Trujillos most well-known legacies was his racist attitudes toward Haiti and the Haitian sugarcane laborers who lived near the border. He stoked the historic Dominican prejudice against black Haitians, advocating a deafricanization of the nation and restoration of Catholic values (Knight, 225). Despite his own mixed race identity, and the fact that he himself had a Haitian grandparent, he projected the image of the Dominican Republic as a white, Hispanic society, a myth that persists to this day with bigoted, anti-Haitian legislation being passed as recently as 2013. A celebration in praise of President Rafael L. Trujillo Sr. The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images Trujillos anti-Haitian sentiment culminated in the murder of an estimated 20,000 Haitians in October 1937, when he traveled to the border and declared that the Haitian occupation of the border areas would no longer continue. He ordered all Haitians remaining in the area to be murdered on sight. This act provoked widespread condemnation across Latin America and the U.S. After an investigation, the Dominican government paid Haiti $525,000 for damages and injuries occasioned by what officially was termed frontier conflicts. (Moya Pons, 369). Trujillos Downfall and Death Dominican exiles opposed to the Trujillo regime carried out two failed invasions, one in 1949 and one in 1959. However, things shifted in the region once Fidel Castro succeeded in overthrowing Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. In order to help the Dominicans overthrow Trujillo, Castro armed a military expedition in 1959 composed mostly of exiles but also some Cuban military commanders. The uprising failed, but the Cuban government continued urging Dominicans to revolt against Trujillo and this inspired more conspiracies. One widely publicized case was that of the three Mirabal sisters, whose husbands had been jailed for conspiring to overthrow Trujillo. The sisters were assassinated on November 25, 1960, provoking outrage. One of the decisive factors in Trujillos downfall was his attempt to assassinate Venezuelan President Romulo Betancourt in 1960 after discovering that the latter had participated years before in a conspiracy to oust him. When the assassination plot was revealed, the Organization of American States (OAS) severed diplomatic ties with Trujillo and imposed economic sanctions. Moreover, having learned its lesson with Batista in Cuba and recognizing that Trujillos corruption and repression had gone too far, the U.S. government withdrew its longstanding support of the dictator it had helped train. On May 30, 1961 and with the help of the CIA, Trujillos car was ambushed by seven assassins, some of whom were part of his armed forces, and the dictator was killed. 6/5/1961-Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic-Newsmen view the car in which Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo was assasinated. The automobile contained about 60 bullet holes, and had blood stains on the back seat where Trujillo was seated. Late June 4th, Dominican authorities reported that two of the assassins had been killed in a gun battle with security police. Bettmann / Getty Images Legacy There was widespread rejoicing by Dominicans when they learned that Trujillo had died. Bandleader Antonio Morel released a merengue (the national music of the Dominican Republic) shortly after Trujillos death called Mataron al Chivo (They killed the goat); the goat was one of Trujillos nicknames. The song celebrated his death and declared May 30 a day of freedom. Many exiles returned to the island to tell stories of torture and imprisonment, and students marched to demand democratic elections. Juan Bosch, a populist reformer, who had been an early dissident during the Trujillo regime and who had gone into exile in 1937, was democratically elected in December 1962. Unfortunately his socialist-leaning presidency, focused on land reform, was at odds with U.S. interests and lasted less than a year; he was deposed by the military in September 1963. While authoritarian leaders like Joaquà ­n Balaguer have continued to hold power in the Dominican Republic, the country has maintained free and competitive elections and has not returned to the level of repression under the Trujillo dictatorship. Sources Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America. New York: Viking Penguin, 2000.Knight, Franklin W. The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism, 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.Moya Pons, Frank. The Dominican Republic: A National History. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1998.

Dogs chomp on more than four million people a year essays

Dogs chomp on more than four million people a year essays Dogs chomp on more than four million people a year. Megan Boger of La Belle, Pa., returned from shopping with her mother and ran into the yard to greet the family pet, a part-cocker mutt named Blaze. Seconds later, her mom, Elena Boger, heard a snap and then shrieks from three-year-old Megan. There was blood all over her face from tooth punctures under an eye and around her mouth, she recalls. Elena and her husband rushed their sobbing child to a local hospital. But the injuries were severe enough that the Bogers were sent to Children ¡s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where a plastic surgeon stitched the gashes. Little Megan is far from alone in having been the victim of a dog bite. According to a 1994 survey (the most recent) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, some 4.7 million people were bitten by dogs. About 800,000 required medical treatment. Many bites are to children, and most are from family pets or familiar dogs, not strays. Many bites are treated at home or in a doctor ¡s office, and as a consequence are often not reported to authorities. Meanwhile, there is no ongoing national system for counting dog bites, says the CDC ¡s Dr. Jeffrey Sacks. In some locales bites are reported to the police, in others to the animal-control folks or the health department. Some counties don ¡t collect data at all. Whatever the exact numbers, medical, veterinary and insurance experts agree: dog bites are on the rise. One reason may be that more people are getting larger, more powerful dogs than in the past. The CDC considers dog bites a serious public-health problem for children. A Pennsylvania study found that 45 percent of children had been bitten. And not only children are at risk. Dog bites are no joke for letter carriers and delivery people. Dog attacks account for a whopping one-third of all liability claims under renter or homeowner ¡s insurance policies. The Insurance Information Institute says that...

Summary 5 234 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary 5 234 - Essay Example Pain is also an important issue to discuss with a hospitalized toddler. The child needs to be taught that it is not his fault that he is sick or in pain and that it is okay to express it when he is hurting. Teachers and family members must help the infant or child to cope with her illness. Infants and toddlers who have been hospitalized may need extra time and encouragement to meet their developmental milestones. They may also regress to an earlier stage of development. It is the teacher's job to reassure parents that this isn't permanent and with encouragement, their child will regain these skills. Promoting active and medical play in the classroom is also a good way for children to express their frustration or other feelings about their experience. Hospitalization or a long illness is difficult for the child, but it is also difficult for the family and friends. Parents may not know where to ask for help in caring for their child and they also need reassurance from their child's tea cher on how the child is coping in the classroom. It is important for the entire family to be involved in the recuperation of the recovering infant or toddler.

Export Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Export Marketing - Essay Example Export marketing is the marketing activities involved in an export that helps in taking the opportunities of doing business in foreign countries while at the same time it sustains the production in the home country. Export marketing is very much important in today's competitive world, as it is only through exporting or marketing to the outside world, the small companies can turn into large companies and large ones into multinational operations. It allows a business to grow further beyond its geographical limits and helps in understanding economy of foreign countries. It also provides scope for improving the quality of goods or services as per the requirements in the foreign market. However, before pursuing export marketing, one should perform extensive export marketing research so that it can understand the demand of its goods and services among the foreign consumers. It also helps in understanding the capability of its products to sustain in the export market. Nowadays, in most of the countries worldwide, governments are encouraging their domestic companies to go global to expand their business extents and fulfil the requirements of overseas customers along with its domestic ones. This involves offering various export marketing research schemes to understand the foreign markets. ... The primary purpose of EMRS is to provide the necessary export marketing research to the UK companies before the companies are ready with their strategies to enter into the overseas market. This export marketing research basically involves gaining knowledge and information about the following topics regarding the foreign markets: The size of the market and its segmentation Regulations and legislation in the foreign market Needs, attitudes and usage of the customers Available distribution network The market trends followed Activities of the competitors along with their strategies and performances How to Enter into an Export Market It is a very important decision for any domestic company to enter into the export market. However, the success of this step of the companies depends on many factors. For the success in export marketing, a company needs an effective way to market and distribute its goods and services in the export market. There are multiple options available, which include direct exporting by the domestic company, using third-parties as intermediaries for exporting the goods and services and collaborating with companies that are already marketing in the export market. It is generally seen that the new ventures targeting for export marketing prefers direct export process. The main concern behind this behaviour of the companies is mainly due to their intention to save money or avoid sharing of any profit with other company or third-party services. The companies going for direct exporting should understand that they can be successful in the foreign market only when they are ready to use their resources t o perform the following basic tasks: Choosing the foreign